Item: Apple iCloud
Rating: 3
Author: Shelby Bowden

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Apple iCloud as a whole department as a way of sharing Apple-based information without the need for "hard" storage and transfer devices such as external hard drives. It allows us to transfer data without having to first convert it to an alternate file type such as Microsoft Word or Excel.

Pros and Cons

Data sharing.
Data storage of Apple-related file types.
Great integration with apple products.

It seems kind of like a "black box," and is difficult to keep clean.
impossible to integrate with Microsoft files.
Automatically turns on, so difficult to keep things straight.

Return on Investment

It has helped streamline data sharing.
It has led to the mysterious disappearance of several files.
It has made us think twice about the cloud service we use.

Usability

While it may be great to use with other Apple products, I find it's an absolutist-style workflow to be debilitating and to lead to many problems. When you sign into the cloud, it completely takes over your device in many ways that you don't notice at first until there is a problem.

Support Rating

Apple gives pretty miserable support unless you pay a lot to have the support packages. Usually, it is more helpful to do a Google search of the issue, but at that point, it isn't product support, it's just me doing the job myself. Other programs seem to have much better, and free, support.

Alternatives Considered

Google Drive, Dropbox, Dropbox Business, OneDrive, MediaFire and Amazon Cloud Drive

I selected Apple icloud mainly because it is the best for using with pesky apple file types, but overall it does a pretty poor job against competitors. It is more expensive, offers less storage, and is much more difficult to use. I'd stick to an alternative program if it were possible.

Other Software Used

Google Drive, Dropbox, Dropbox Business, OneDrive, MediaFire, Amazon Cloud Drive

Likelihood to Recommend

It is great if you are a die-hard Apple user. It integrates virtually every aspect of Apple products among different devices, making it super easy to share things. It fails pretty hard when tasked with other product types (such as Microsoft), and I have found it rather difficult to manage since it seems to take over so forcefully.

A great place to store apple files, yet a horrible program!

Overall Satisfaction with Apple iCloud